Wrestling

Scott Honecker Named Interim Head Wrestling Coach at Williams College

Jul 23, 2012

WILLIAMSTOWN, MA -- Growing up in East Longmeadow, Mass., Scott Honecker had always known that Williams College was one of the nation's top liberal arts colleges and home to a strong wrestling program, but he never thought he would end up coaching the Ephs.

Honecker who served as an assistant to Williams head wrestling coach Rich Hasenfus last year will step up to interim head coach status this academic year, while Hasenfus is on a leave of absence to work on his Master's and serve on National Wrestling Coaches Association Board of Directors.

After wrestling at Ithaca College, Honecker accepted an assistant coaching position at J.H. Rose High School in 2005 while he completed his degree at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. In 2006, Honecker was elevated to Head Wrestling Coach where his program experienced unprecedented success. Throughout the course of his in career in Greenville, Honecker's teams achieved over 100 dual meet victories in 5 seasons.

In 2007, Honecker founded the Greenville Wrestling Club, which grew to become one of the largest clubs in the Southeast and competed on a national level. Five consecutive years (2007-11), the Greenville Wrestling Club won the North Carolina state championship.

Scott Honecker

Along with coaching the Greenville Wrestling Club, Honecker was selected as a Head Coach for the North Carolina USA Wrestling Team.

USA Wrestling named Honecker the 2009 North Carolina State Coach of the Year.

In 2010, Honecker was honored as the USA Wrestling Southeast Junior Developmental Coach of the Year. The Southeast Region of USA Wrestling covers nine states.

During his six years in North Carolina Honecker was a member of the Cadet/Junior National Coaching Staff and served as an Executive Board Member for North Carolina USA Wrestling.

Honecker arrived at Williams in the fall of 2011 to serve as an assistant under Rich Hasenfus. "Even with all of the success I had in North Carolina, it was not a hard decision for me to come to Williams," Honecker noted. "I was excited to be closer to my family and, as I expected, Williamstown is a great place to work and live."

Under Hasenfus, Honecker provided technical instruction at practices and competitions and was heavily involved in the Ephs' recruiting efforts. His first year at Williams gave Honecker, "an appreciation of the unique commitment that a Williams student-athlete has to make to be successful."

Honecker feels his strengths as a coach are planning and organizing practices, preparing for competitions, recruiting, and serving as an advocate for his student athletes. "I'm looking forward to blending my knowledge and skill development techniques into the all-around growth of the Eph team members."

Honecker earned his Bachelor of Science degree from East Carolina University in 2010 in elementary education.

Honecker and his wife Kareen and daughter Samantha reside in Williamstown.